The impact of varied green benefits appeals on consumer preferences for green home appliances — Experiment evidence from China

Irrational decision-making by consumers when purchasing green home appliances has led to significant energy waste. While debates continue regarding the effectiveness of green benefit appeals (monetary benefit appeals, environmental benefit appeals, and combined benefit appeals), the role of benefit magnitude and scale in shaping these appeals remains underexplored. This study focuses on China, a representative emerging market, to investigate the persuasive effects of the three types of green benefit appeals on green purchase decision preferences and their boundary conditions under varying benefit magnitudes and scales. Through three experimental studies, the findings reveal that monetary benefit appeals are the most persuasive under large-benefit conditions, while environmental benefit appeals are more effective in small-benefit scenarios. Additionally, larger-scale monetary benefit appeals significantly enhance consumer decision-making compared to smaller-scale appeals. Combined benefit appeals exhibit effectiveness between monetary and environmental appeals, leveraging the strengths of both but potentially suffering from dilution effects under high information load or small benefit conditions. This study addresses a critical gap in understanding the mechanisms of green benefit appeals under varying benefit magnitudes and scales and provides key theoretical and practical insights to inform green purchase decisions, green marketing strategies, and sustainable policy design in emerging markets.